On Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 01:12:32PM -0500, Kenneth Emerson wrote:
> > The DCH-3200 has a standby mode which should reduce its power draw.
> > Have you tried measuring how much power is required when the box is in
> > standby? My understanding is that when the box is in standby mode it
> > isn't tuned to any channel and decoding video, but it is still capable
> > of receiving updates when in this mode, and should boot faster in this
> > mode as well. If the power draw is sufficiently low in standby, you
> > might find it more reliable to keep it in that mode.
> >
> > If what you mean by "standby" is the mode the unit is in when you press the
> >
> power button, there is no significant change in the amount of power consumed
> by the device. I have measured this unit with a Kill-A-Watt meter and
This what I saw too, I was not impressed.
> verified this. This STB (and most others) have been targeted as willful
> power wasters. It is an egregious waste of our resources. Powering the
> unit off via a power strip is the best way to combat this, but you will
> probably miss updates which I have read people describing happening to their
> units in the wee hours of the AM. Perhaps a call to your cable provider's
> customer service rep. You should also try unplugging it for, say, 48 hours
> and then plug it back in and see how long it takes to reconnect with the
> head-end. I have read some cable companies take upwards of 30 minutes to
> verify and then download (reactivate) a dead STB.
So far it has not been killed yet, but I'm wondering how long it takes before
it stops working without getting its regular updates.
> I'd go the route of the HDHR Prime if I knew that I could get the same
> programming that I get from my STB (and am paying for).
I may go down that route, I just spent to long getting my HDHR (non prime)
and DCH 3200 working that I loathe to touch it now, even if the setup isn't
totally perfect :)
Thanks for the answers.
Marc
--
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Microsoft is to operating systems ....
.... what McDonalds is to gourmet cooking
Home page: http://marc.merlins.org/